ERIE, Pa. — The Installation Quality (IQ) Certification Program has reformatted its guidelines to make it easier for central monitoring stations to apply. The guidelines are now separated according to whether the applicant is an installation or monitoring company.

There are no changes in the wording to the guidelines, IQ Chair Tim Creenan tells SSI. The document for installation companies still contains a code of ethics and company, user and employee training, and equipment policies. It also states that IQ-certified companies must use an IQ-certified monitoring station.

However, revisions were required for the monitoring guideline section because central stations do not need to comply with installation policies or end-user training.

“Now, the guidelines are easier to read and are directly focused on what monitoring stations need to do to become certified,” Creenan says.

Creenan, who is also owner of Amherst, N.Y.-based Amherst Alarm, says no monitoring stations complained about the previous guidelines format. Rather, it was the board’s decision to make the changes.

“We just felt that the time had come for it to happen,” he says. “Companies are finding the ability to set themselves apart from the competition with their IQ Certification. That was our goal when we made this change. We wanted to make it easier for wholesale monitoring companies to understand the process.”

The IQ Certification Program was started in 1997 and has more than 250 companies enrolled. Its goal is to raise the overall installation quality of electronic security and life-safety systems and reduce false alarms. For more information, click here.

Ashley Willis is associate editor for SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION. She can be reached at (310) 533-2419.